It's funny what a beautiful word felony is. Fittingly, it also describes the flagrant thefts and audacious frauds that infiltrate the worlds of art, precious gems, and other rarified treasures. From master forgeries to jewel heists to shadowy black-market exchanges, these highbrow crimes are no less thrilling for being “gentlemanly” and bloodless (mostly!), and the cultural, ethical, and aesthetic questions they inspire are among humanity's deepest concerns.
Stories about scammers and con artists are enjoying a resurgence, and the tale of John Drewe has to be one of the most outlandish. Commissioning works in the style of masters including Chagall, Le Corbusier, and Matisse from a British painter in need of money, Drewe then sold the forgeries to the world's most reputable auction houses, earning millions of dollars. This fast-paced account of the 20th century's biggest art fraud listens like a thriller—but it's all true.
Adapted into a major motion picture starring Matt Damon, Bill Murray, and George Clooney, this nonfiction listen explores the shocking history of how tens of thousands of priceless works of art were saved from being lost to the world forever. At the same time Adolf Hitler was attempting to take over the western world, his armies were seeking and hoarding the finest art treasures in Europe, fueling another war in which a heroic group of curators and professors sought to correct the cultural loss. Known as the Monuments Men, their story is richly brought to life by the skillful narration of Jeremy Davidson.
In 2009, a young flutist named Edwin Rist robbed a British museum of hundreds of exotic bird skins, many of which had been collected by the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace in the 19th century. Turns out, the feathers fetch high prices from collectors who use them in the extremely niche hobby of salmon fly-tying, turning them more into esoteric artworks than the usual fish bait. Full of fascinating twists, this true crime listen is definitely not for the birds.
If you're interested in the shadowy side of the world's most coveted gems, look no further than this expose on the group of thieves who brazenly infiltrated the supposedly theft-proof Antwerp Diamond Center to steal more than $100 million of loot. Zeroing in on the 'how' of the crime, this masterfully paced thriller ferrets out the true story behind one of the most daring heists in history.
Delving into an outlandish realm of obsession, paranoia, and criminality, The Dragon Behind the Glass tells the story of a fish like none other: a powerful predator dating to the age of the dinosaurs....
The bloodless but ultra-compelling story of Elmyr de Hory, one of the most notorious art forgers of all time, is perfect for listeners of obsessive crime stories. Clocking in under three hours, journalist Max Horberry’s twisty investigation starts out as an examination of a criminal, but ends up investigating the value of art, the meaning of originality, and the power of myth-making for a wild but brainy ride, all told in the author’s own pleasant, elegant British diction.
Susan Orlean’s jaw-dropping account of the strange, shadowy world of the flower-selling underground is now a classic of modern journalism, brought to life in the Spike Jonze film Adaptation. Orlean follows a charismatic poacher named John Laroche in his quest to clone a rare “ghost” orchid for passion and profit. The prose and story are elegant and eccentric, just like the exotic orchid itself.
This accessible academic podcast is the creative outlet for two Assyriologists, Megan Lewis and Joshua Bowen, who aim to bring their passionate expertise in the ancient Near East to the modern world. Via interviews with researchers and academics, they explore some of the most vexing art crimes that continue to plague the antiquities market— including stolen, smuggled, and faked artifacts, colonialist plunder, and forgeries—for a fascinating window into ancient Mesopotamia, art, history, and culture.
The founder of the FBI’s Art Crime Team, Robert Wittman is arguably the world's most famous stolen-treasure detective, having rescued paintings by Rembrandt and Picasso, an original copy of the Bill of Rights, a Rodin sculpture, and a headdress worn by Geronimo. His compelling memoir examines his globetrotting, often undercover, escapades as well as meditations on art and what it means to be "priceless," anyway.